Our Story

Miss Tina has spent her life pursuing her passion for dance. She has been a part of the studio since it began. Miss Tina’s students have gone on to have wonderful careers is dance and art related fields. She has continued to train with some of the best teachers in the country and she brings that knowledge back to all her classes. Miss Tina is well rounded and teaches all subjects at GDP. Miss Tina is a member of and certified to teach by Dance Masters of America and the Cecchetti Council of America. She is also the Co-Director of the Majestic Dance Ensemble of Michigan.

Miss Michele began at Gayle’s as a student of 11 years. She graduated from Oakland University in 2004 with a Bachelors of General Studies degree with a Health Science focus. Michele taught dance for 5 years before taking over the administrator position. If you need help with anything at our studio, Michele has the answer or can get it quick. She really understands all aspects of the studio. Miss Michele is now married with one child named Lilly.

DANCE INSTRUCTOR

Miss Nina started dancing when she was only 2 years old. She danced for many years as a competitive dancer. When she entered high school, she joined the Pom team and soon became their captain. After high school, Miss Nina attended college at Michigan State University where she graduated in 2005 with a Communications degree. This is Miss Nina's 25th year of teaching dance. She teaches both competition and non-competition classes. Her dances have won many high point awards and judges awards including, Precision Awards, Best Costume, Best in Category, along with many Overalls.  Miss Nina is married and mother to a son, Beck and two daughters, Willow and Lydia.

DANCE INSTRUCTOR

Miss Shelby graduated from Central Michigan University in December 2018 with a Bachelor’s of Art degree majoring in Communications and minoring in Marketing. She was a dance team member at CMU for 2 years and a Captain her final season. Before starting her teaching career at Gayles’s, Shelby was a student for 17 years performing in all styles of dance. Recently Shelby started her own dance team for dancers who are not offered UDA dance teams at their high schools and became the head coach of the Oakland All-Stars Dance team. Miss Shelby loves spending time with her family especially her (fur) baby Millie.

Miss Alyssa has been dancing since the age of 2.  Being the daughter of our founder, Miss Alyssa had been born to dance! She danced competitively at GDP her entire life where she continued on at UofM.  Spending all 4 years on UofM's dance team and graduating with a dance degree, Miss Alyssa has lots of love for the art.  She has recently gotten married and can't wait to continue to pass along her passion for dance to the GDP dancers.

DANCE INSTRUCTOR  

Miss Alex graduated from Grand Valley State University in April 2019 with a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Radiation Therapy. She was a member of the GVSU dance team for four years and was a Captain for her final two years. She is currently a full-time radiation therapist at Karmanos Cancer Institute in Flint. Alex started dancing at the age of 3 and was on the competitive team at Gayle’s for 10 years. This is her second year back teaching at Gayle’s and she is also an assistant coach of the Oakland All-Stars Dance Team. 

 DANCE INSTRUCTOR  

 Miss Rachel has been dancing her entire life and has a true passion for both dancing and teaching. During her years as a competitive dancer she earned several national titles, including a UDA national championship. She was also the Varsity Pom & Dance team coach at South Lyon East High School for the past seven years. Rachel is a University of Detroit Mercy graduate and is currently a Nurse in the ER at Beaumont Hospital. Rachel is ecstatic to be joining the GDP family and cannot wait for 2022/2023 season to begin! 

 DANCE INSTRUCTOR 

Brittany Wenson is a graduate from Michigan State University where she received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Hospitality Business with a focus in Event Planning and Management. Brittany comes to us with over 24 years of dance training in jazz, lyrical, hip hop, and pom. While at Michigan State Brittany was a member of the MSUDT for all four years where she danced on the sidelines of the globally recognized football and basketball teams. In addition to this, Brittany was able to travel to countless football Bowl Games and NCAA tournaments. When she was not cheering on the sidelines the dance team would compete each year in Orlando Florida at the UDA nationals where her team was nationally ranked at the collegiate level. After graduating, Brittany became a member of the Detroit Lions Cheerleaders for three years where she achieved the role of captain. Being apart of the Detroit Lions Cheerleaders not only allowed Brittany to dance in the NFL but allowed her to dance along side Lil John, Mike Posner, and Brothers Osborne. Brittany was also able to further her training on the professional level and head to Las Vegas for the Pro Action Dance Intensive. When not dancing herself, Brittany is the head coach of Mercy Varsity Dance Team where she has grown the program over the last five years to be placed in the top three at UDA regional competitions and recognized on the UDA national level as semi-finalist in Orland Florida. Brittany has been lucky enough to choreograph for her college dance team, professional cheer team, countless studios, and high school dance teams, and she is beyond excited to continue where it all started for her here at Gayle’s DancePhase!

 DANCE INSTRUCTOR 

Fallon has danced since she was 2 years old, and received her BFA in Dance from New York University. At NYU she performed work by Sonya Tayeh, MADBOOTS Dance, Paul Taylor, and many others. She is very passionate about choreography as well as building a strong technical base, and is excited to bring her skillset back to GDP.

After dancing at Gayles DancePhase for 10 years she is beyond excited to return to the teaching staff this year! 

 DANCE INSTRUCTOR 

Kate started dancing at the age of three, as a company member at Mary Skiba’s School of Dance, she trained in ballet, tap, jazz and modern. Upon graduating from the company and starting at Western Michigan University, Kate found a passion for teaching dance while continuing her training at local Kalamazoo studios. Kate transferred to Michigan State University to major in Organization Communication. While attending MSU, Kate started teaching at a studio in Okemos, MI. In addition Kate studied dance education at Lansing Community College at the same time to further her dance education.

In 2008 Kate in addition to marrying her husband Jim, founded Elite Dance Company in East Lansing, MI. Instilling a passion for dance in her students as well as bringing a fresh new dance ideology to the area, Elite quickly became one of the top studios in the area training dancers with a focus on technique and creativity in movement. EDC went on to win many awards for the work they took to stage. In 2010 Kate became a certified dance instructor of the Dance & Gym USA and a lifetime member for performance achievement recognition. To keep up with the ever changing world of dance, Kate spent summers at Broadway Dance Center taking classes and learning all she could to bring back to her students. In addition, she attended the Dance Teacher Summits during the summer to ensure her business and teaching practices were held to the highest standards.   

In 2017 Kate sold Elite Dance Company to a former employee who has continued to grow the success of the studio. Kate became a stay at home mom to her three children, Dominick, Sydney and Olivia. Quickly realizing dance was missing, she began to teach at a local studio where her daughter was dancing, focusing on ballet technique. Kate also began studying additional forms of ballet, including Progression and the Godfrey Method to be able to bring different forms of technique to her students while keeping traditional technique at the heart of her focus. Kate’s strong passion for dance and teaching young dancers the art has always been an important part of who she is. She is thrilled to be joining the GDP family and bringing her love of dance.